Rusty found this book at the TCM Store
at The Grove (Fairfax district, LA).
The book was published in 1936

"In this busy modern world, leisure takes on an added tang. Whether you are in an office, shop, school or home, you feel the need of recreation when the long day's work is over. There are, of course, the movies, the radio or a book. These occupations have their separate charms but they are passive. The normal person who has been using his head or his hands for eight hours longs for action, for gaiety, for social contacts. The dance offers all these. It holds the golden promise of friendships, of glamor, of motion."

2004 COMING TO A CLOSE
LINDY HOP STILL STRONG!

When Thanksgiving is just around the corner, you realize that another year is about to come to an end. How does it happen? How does it go so fast? But then you look again and see that you once again managed to squeeze in a million and one wonderful activities in between the "long day's work". For most of us, many of these extra activities were somehow dance related: classes, dances, workshops.

As I take a moment to reflect on 2004, I am so proud of what we all accomplished. Just think of it, in our own "little" South Bay community five hundred people came in to take a peak. Many of them have stayed on, continuing with classes, bringing in their friends, and helping keep our scene alive.

We did it! For another year, we all kept swing dancing alive and kicking. By word of mouth, by our happy example on and off the dance floor, we kept new people coming in, and we all kept dancing. I always think how quickly something like this could vanish back into thin air (as it did for many years), and how lucky we are to have all that we have -- fine bands, a multitude of dancing locales, and such a wealth of events and excellent instructors.

But, it all points back to YOU. You who come out and take the classes, you who tell your friends, you who come to the dances, you who smile and let the world know how fun this is.

So, I want to thank you again for everything. For helping keep my passions -- music and dance from the 1920s-1940s alive! You're the best!

DECEMBER MONTHLY WORKSHOP...
LINDY CHARLESTON

I'm so excited to get back on track with monthly workshops. December's workshop is the ever-popular Lindy Charleston. See below for full details, and stay tuned for fun workshops in 2005! (click HERE to register right now)

SHIM SHAM SHIMMY
ENJOY THE "PROCESS"

We had a blast at the Shim Sham Workshop earlier this month. Approximately 50 eager students crowded the floor to learn this historic dance. To all of you, remember that we will be doing the Shim Sham dance each week at the Rhythm Club -- so come along and practice!
Many of you were in a bit of, how shall we say, PANIC!, about trying to learn the entire dance in such a short time. Don't worry (be happy), as with everything else, give yourself time and practice to learn it. When you take a workshop, don't expect to walk away with everything "nailed" (if you can do that, let me know your secret!). Workshops are just meant to expose you to material, material that you can then work on for the rest of your life! So have patience with yourself. There's no rush. Just enjoy the process.
If you want, there is video on my website that you can download that will remind you of the dance, clickHERE. Or, you can even buy an instructional video tape that breaks down and teaches you the whole dance, click HERE.
OR... you can go to the Harvest Moon Swingout THIS weekend, and dance the dance with legendary 90-year old Frankie Manning (THE MAN)

SOME MORE FUN STUFF

There's still more to report, but I'm gonna put it down below under "ADDED ATTRACTIONS". These include: Jessica's suprise 50th Birthday Party, and a dance class with The Fabulous Esquires Big Band.

click on the above image to pre-register!

LEVEL THREE DINNER!
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2004

We're picking up an ol' tradition -- having dinner together at El Tarasco's (across the street from Rebekah Lodge) on the last day of this series after Level 3.

Everyone's invited to join in on the socializing! We'll walk across the street just after 5:30pm

LAST 2004 TUESDAY SERIES
FEATURED CLASS -- SWING OUT VARIATIONS

We have over thirty Swingout variations up our sleeves to teach in the this Level 3 and up series. Stock up on loads of cool variations to spice up your variation. Step step triple step step step triple step!

LAST 2004 SUNDAY CLASSES... SPRED THE WORD!

November 28th marks the beginning of our last Sunday series of 2004. Remember, Level 4 students, you can come back through any Level 1, 2, or 3 classes for $10/each for the entire series!

PRE-REGISTRATION DISCOUNT!

We have pre-registration discounts of 10% on the website now. So you can register right on our site "easy peasy lemon squeezy". Go HERE. Remember, pre-register for class(es), you'll get a 10% discount off the normal prices. You can pre-register over the phone (310 606 5606), by check, or at on-line We hope that you'll enjoy taking advantage of this new offer...

HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS!
GIVE THE GIFT OF DANCE!

HOLIDAY GIFT CERTIFICATES

What a great holiday gift idea -- Swing Dancing!
We have gift certificates for:

HOLIDAYS AT
THE RHYTHM CLUB

It's that time of year again. Getting ready for the holidays! We've got a superb line-up at the Rhythm Club to make your holidays sign with joy. With all the stress awaiting you (cards, gifts, food -- yikes!), dancing always saves the day.

Make sure to mark all the December dates in your diary! December 1st, our lesson AND Mora's Modern Swingtet! December 9th The Fabulous Esquires with Rusty's singing debut with the band and her Swing Shift Fliers. December 15th -- The Rhythm Club Holiday Party, a real dressy-uppy affair.

HOLIDAY PARTY!
Dress Up!!!!

A birthday of the week!OUR VERY OWN SUPER DUPER VOLUNTEER Jessica Densmore

and
Cathryn Sayre

If it's your birthday this week, just let us know at the Rhythm Club so you can get your birthday dance!

JESSICA IS SURPRISED!
50TH BIRTHDAY PARTY A SUCCESS

One phone call, one email, and "poof" a fabulous surprise party for our swing angel Jessica Densmore. Jessica's husband called Rusty with an idea to have this surprise party before classes on Sunday. Rusty took Jessica off the email list, then sent out an invite to everyone, then put Jessica back on the list. A little word of mouth, and there ya go. Rusty invited Jessica over for "Breakfast" (wink, wink), while Glenn and Steve set up Rebekah Hall. Then you all snuck in. The Rusty says to Jessica, "Hey let's go for a walk. But before we do, would you mind if I dropped off the sound equipment at the hall?" (wink wink). Then we go to drop it off, but Jessica wants to stay in the car! Rusty claims it will take a while, so she might as well come in the hall, too. Rusty jiggles the key loudly in the door, pushes in Jessica ("ladies first), then all of your smiling faces hollered out "SURPRISE!".

It was just perfect! She was completely taken by surprise. Her family, friends, dancing buddies... everyone was there. Loads of presents, a great cake (with a photo of Ms Jessica astride a beautiful horse), and, of course, a great birthday dance.

Take a look at the scrapbook to reminisce (or see what you missed), click HERE.

FABULOUS ESQUIRES LEARN TO DANCE

Every now and then you get a "dream come true". Last Sunday nite, was one of those cases. Rusty got to teach swing musicians how to dance. Wolf Fengler, wrangler of the Fabulous Esquires Big Band approached Rusty about a month ago with the idea. He thought it would help his band to play even better if they knew what it was like to be "on the other side". He thought it would help them understand why certain tempos were good for certain kinds of songs, why it's hard to swing dance for longer than 3 minutes a song, why it's hard to go from a super fast song to a super slow song (sweat!).

Wolf was absolutely right! The band members had a blast and really understood the triles and tribulations of the dancer. We showed them what happens when you go from 110 beats per minute (BPM) to 190 bpm!

All in all, a great time! Thanks, Wolf, for once gain being a swell guy!

RUSTY WALKS THE RED CARPET!

You never know where you'll find yourself. Last Thursday, Rusty found herself walking down the proverbial "Red Carpet" for a glamorous film premier. Flash bulbs popping until she couldn't see, photographers yelling, "look here!" "look here!" "look here!", it was a true "out of body" experience.

How did it happen?

It's all who you know, eh! Rusty's good friend, Lieven Debrauwer, was visiting from Belgium. His second feature film - "Confituur" or in English -- "Sweet Jam" - was selected as one of 12 foreign films for the AFI Festival. Lieven invited Rusty to the premiere, but failed to mention the Red Carpet until they were eating dinner before the event (upon hearing the news, Rusty thought "But, I'm not wearing my Red Carpet "outfit"!!!!!!!").

Lieven's film was shown on the weekend to great response. If you want to brush up on your Flemish, and take a look at a real cool website, click HERE.

JOIN THE FUN!
BUT, WHAT THE HECK IS IT?

Many of you still don't know about our Swing Shift Rhythm Club. It's one of our best kept secrets. Now is the time to get the SSRC "above the radar."

THE SWING SHIFT RHYTHM CLUB (SSRC), founded in 2000 by Rusty Frank's swing dance students, The SSRC has two missions:

1. Having fun! (Fun)
2. Doing good deeds! (Philanthropy)

1. Having fun: Events where swing dancers can socialize and get to know each other outside of class (vintage clothes shopping, going to a dance-related movie, dancing in the park, eating at retro restaurants before a dance, etc.).

2. Doing good deeds: Events where we bring swing dancing to hospitals, senior homes, and community events for the purpose of good deeds, entertainment, and education in the Los Angeles area.

The SSRC is a volunteer club open to the public and the events are organized by its members. There are no dues. Members can attend as many or as few events as they wish.

"How do I join?"...
Right now, fill in your email address
and click the Yahoo log (that's it!):

Subscribe to SwingShiftRhythmClub

Then you will receive updates of activities (or you can organize one yourself!). Check the yahoogroup "Swing Shift Rhythm Club" calendar here for postings of upcoming events.

Join us in making the world a better place through dancing!

Thank you for joining!

Rusty & Jessica

"Pirate" Dan dips birthday girl Jessica Densmore

HARVEST MOON SWINGOUT -- THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!: For years, our good friends The Stevens Family, have been putting on an absolutely awesome event -- The Harvest Moon Swingout. Named after that famous lindy hop competition of years gone by, this weekend event is not to be missed. You'll be able to learn from the Master himself - Frankie Manning. If you can't make the whole weekend, just go for the dances!!! Tell 'em "Rusty sent me!"

For you new ones, here's Frankie's bio:

FRANKIE MANNING
New York City, New York

One of the founding fathers of Swing dancing and perhaps the greatest Lindy Hopper of all time. In the 1930's, Frankie was a leading dancer and choreographer for the famous “Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers.” Under contract with the William Morris Agency, the troupe toured the United States, Europe and South America, spreading the excitement of this new American dance style, and introducing Swing dancing to the world. He is credited with performing the first “aerials” in Swing! In 1992 he won a Tony Award for his choreography in the Broadway hit Black & Blue, and today at age 90(!) he is still touring, still teaching, and is still an electrifying dancer and personality. You won’t want to miss meeting this remarkable man!!!

* Wondering
what the heck a "gate"is? This was a phrase popularized by 1940's comedian,
Jerry Colonna, who would holler it out every time he was introduced on the
Bob Hope radio program. It was a friendly salutation to a swing cat (dancer
or swing music enthusiast).

Our
Swing Shift Rhythm Club (SSRC) is the volunteer arm of our local swing
dance community. Through the SSRC, we visit senior homes, children
hospitals, and entertain and dance at street fairs. The purpose of the
club is to do some good deeds and promote the fun of swing dancing.

Anyone can join the club. The events are varied, and purely volunteer
in nature. You'll get a notice through the SSRC Yahoo Group website of
upcoming events, and you can chose which one(s) you'd like to attend.